


closing shift

by yugto



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Grocery Shopping, Humor, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28379541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yugto/pseuds/yugto
Summary: They’re coming from the same place – the store counter faces the doors to the dorm building, so Rintarou can clearly see them coming out of the dorm and entering the store together. They obviously know each other – if it wasn’t evident from their identical faces, it’s definitely evidenced by the way they’re arguing almost every time they come into the store. So why the fuck is one dressed like he’s always about to go to bed and the other’s about to head to class?Rintarou chalks it up to one of the perpetual mysteries of grocery store work, kind of like how the radio only ever seems to play eighties dad rock during his shifts, or how that redhead who comes in every week and only ever buys Gatorade and chocolate-covered pretzels is still alive. Maybe there are just some things that only the gods are meant to know.Suna Rintarou, the newest worker at the campus grocery store, gets to know the regulars.
Relationships: Miya Atsumu & Miya Osamu, Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou
Comments: 23
Kudos: 152
Collections: SunaOsa





	1. closing time

**Author's Note:**

> i thought the last fic i posted was gonna be my last for 2020, but then the artbook said ["Osamu’s the kind of guy who wakes up and goes to a nearby store in whatever he’s wearing at the time"](https://twitter.com/TrianaNero/status/1341822271233482752?s=20) and suddenly i was thrown back to my junior year of uni. that year, the campus grocery store was on the bottom floor of my dorm building; my friend and i would go downstairs, him in his plush robe and me wrapped in a blanket, at 1am to buy ben&jerrys so we could stress eat it as we watched movies instead of doing homework. anyway that’s osamu in this fic

Just before Rintarou starts sophomore year, his university decides that despite the lack of any visible improvement in the dorms’ condition, increasing the price of on-campus housing sounds like a great idea. So when the campus grocery store on the bottom floor of his building puts up a sign in the window saying they’re looking for cashiers, Rintarou doesn’t think twice before applying. Within the space of a week, he’s hired and assigned to the closing shift. According to Sakusa, the last guy hired before him who’s begrudgingly showing him the ropes, this shift is usually pushed off on newbies. This isn’t as big of a problem as it might seem – Rintarou’s sleep schedule has been permanently fucked since high school, anyway – but it _is_ still annoying. He could be lying in his bed staring at his phone instead of standing at the counter staring into space, you know? He’s not a fan of the closing shift.

His first couple of weeks on the job, Rintarou discovers something interesting: the same two guys come in every Tuesday and Friday night at 11:30 PM, like clockwork. One of them wears a plush bathrobe and slides every time he steps into the market, like he just rolled out of bed. Some days, his gray hair is still wet, like he’s just gotten out of the shower; other days, he has a blanket draped over his shoulders, just to add to the look. The other is always dressed nicely, always in some combination of a button-up and jeans, his blonde hair always slicked back in a hairstyle far too nice for visiting the grocery store at 11:30 PM.

They’re coming from the same place – the store counter faces the doors to the dorm building, so Rintarou can clearly see them coming out of the dorm and entering the store together. They obviously know each other – if it wasn’t evident from their identical faces, it’s definitely evidenced by the way they’re arguing almost every time they come into the store. So why the fuck is one dressed like he’s always about to go to bed and the other’s about to head to class?

Rintarou chalks it up to one of the perpetual mysteries of grocery store work, kind of like how the radio only ever seems to play eighties dad rock during his shifts, or how that redhead who comes in every week and only ever buys Gatorade and chocolate-covered pretzels is still alive. Maybe there are just some things that only the gods are meant to know. 

🛒

One Tuesday night, Robe Twin comes in by himself at 11:35 PM. The fact that he’s five minutes late and by himself is far enough out of the ordinary that Rintarou stops what he’s doing at the counter to watch Robe Twin trudge around the store, pulling items off the shelves and putting them in his basket. (“What he’s doing at the counter”, really, is just mindlessly scrolling through Twitter. No one except for Robe Twin and Button-up Twin really comes in this late on Tuesdays, anyway.)

When Robe Twin finally comes up to the counter, basket in hand and oozing misery from every pore, Rintarou has to feel a _little_ bit sorry for the guy. It’s not going to stop him from roasting the guy in his brother’s absence, though. “Nice robe,” he says.

Robe Twin looks surprised. It’s a fair reaction; Rintarou never really starts conversations with anyone who comes through the store. The extent of his interactions with the twins (or really, any customer) so far have been _Do you want a receipt?_ and _Nah, thanks_. “Thank ya,” he replies, eventually.

Rintarou runs a carton of Ben and Jerry’s under the scanner. Phish Food. Good choice. “So, where’s your carbon copy?”

From where he’s rummaging in his robe’s pocket for his student ID, Robe Twin looks up with a grimace. “He’s sick as hell. Didn’t wanna get changed to come downstairs today.”

Rintarou takes a second to process that statement, hands freezing at the scanner. He blinks. Once, twice.

“Get _changed?_ ” he asks, incredulous. There’s no _way_ the answer to this two-week-old mystery is this _stupid_.

“It’s fuckin’ stupid, right?” Robe Twin unconsciously echoes Rintarou’s thoughts, his eyes lighting up from the crumb of validation Rintarou’s just given him. “We just come here from our dorm room, y’know.” He leans in conspiratorially. “But Tsumu has a crush on one of the guys who works here, so he wants to look good when he comes in.” 

“Tsumu”, who Rintarou assumes is Button-up Twin, is even more ridiculous than Rintarou previously imagined. But the guy giving him this information is out in public in a plush bathrobe and slides. By _choice_. Maybe it runs in the family.

“What a clown.” He scans a small bag of rice, then pauses. “Wait. Your brother doesn’t have a crush on _me_ , does he?”

“Oh god, no,” Robe Twin rolls his eyes. “Tsumu has horrible taste.”

“Aw, I’m touched,” says Rintarou, with his best shit-eating grin, “do you think anyone who likes me has good taste?”

Robe Twin sputters, flushing a pretty shade of red. Idly, Rintarou wonders how far below his robe the guy’s blush goes. (Listen, he’s easy on the eyes, and messing with this guy is easily the most fun thing he’s done on a shift since he started.)

Near them, someone clears their throat. Rintarou looks up to see Sakusa, already holding a mop in his hand. “I hate to interrupt your riveting conversation, but we need to start closing up.”

A glance at the clock shows him that it’s 11:59. The store closes at midnight, and riveting though this conversation may be, he’s got a paper due at noon the next day that he’s yet to start. He nods to Sakusa, scanning the last few items and placing them in Robe Twin’s reusable bag. It’s patterned with little onigiri. Surprisingly cute, for such a big guy.

Robe Twin swipes his student ID through the reader to pay. Mechanically, Rintarou asks, “Do you want a receipt?” 

To his surprise, unlike every previous time, Robe Twin says yes. Their fingers brush as Rintarou passes the receipt over the counter. He tries not to read too much into it. “See you next Friday, Robe-kun.”

“Robe-kun?” Robe Twin asks, looking mildly offended as he shoves his receipt into the pocket of said robe.

“Would you prefer Gray Twin-kun?” Rintarou props his elbow on the counter and leans his chin on one hand, batting his eyelashes obnoxiously.

“My name’s Osamu, Cashier-kun,” says Robe Twin – fine, _Osamu_ – leaning back over the counter. Sakusa, perhaps sick of waiting for Rintarou to finish up, goes off to mop the aisles with an expressive eyeroll. Blissfully ignorant of this minor coworker drama, Osamu continues, “Ya gonna give me a name to match that pretty face of yers? ’S only fair, I gave ya mine.”

Objectively, this is a pretty terrible line. But it’s past midnight, and it could be argued that his brain’s not firing on all cylinders. The boy in front of him is cute, and also so, _so close to his face_. Rintarou thinks he can be forgiven the few moments he spends suspended in gay panic.

“Suna,” he offers, after a long pause. “Suna Rintarou.”

“Suna Rintarou, huh,” says Osamu, with a grin. “Weeeeell, I’ll see ya Friday, Su-na-rin.”

As he takes his bag of groceries and leaves, his plush robe flapping behind him, Rintarou mumbles eloquently, “Fuck.” Man, he doesn’t even know if this guy _has_ an ass to speak of, and he’s staring after it anyway. 

Out of the overwhelming kindness of his heart, Sakusa gives him a full thirty seconds to watch Osamu exit the market and disappear back into the dorm before he deadpans, “If you’re just going to stand there, can you at least wipe the counter down?”

(When Osamu shows up in his robe again at precisely 11:30 that Friday with a grin and a “Heya, Sunarin,” Rintarou thinks to himself that maybe, just maybe, the closing shift isn’t as bad as it seems. At least he gets a nice view every Tuesday and Friday.)


	2. what i really want (can't be bought with money)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The grocery store’s hot case is always what Osamu’s eyes are drawn to first; but the bored-looking cashier, who’s always on his phone, is a close second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > _Mura na at sari-sari pa ang itinitinda_  
>  _Pero ang tanging nais ko ay 'di nabibili ng pera_  
>  (What they sell is cheap, and there's lots to choose from  
> But what I really want can't be bought with money)
> 
> — ["Tindahan Ni Aling Nena"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcWF19sB5Po), Eraserheads
> 
> surprise second chapter because the osamu pov brainworms would not leave my mind. happy new year friendos!

When Atsumu starts going to the grocery store every Tuesday and Friday night at 11:30 PM, Osamu initially tags along because he doesn’t trust Atsumu alone in a grocery store. In his mind, Atsumu’s the kind of person who will grab the vegetables right at the front of the display case, rather than inspect to make sure he’s buying the best quality produce. Better safe than sorry, he figures, _especially_ when it comes to their precious food budget.

At first, he just chalks it up to Atsumu being, well, Atsumu. It takes Osamu a couple of weeks to realize there’s a pattern to Atsumu’s madness. He never wants to go to the grocery store on their way home from class; instead, they go back to their dorm, and they play video games for a while, or mess around, or (once in a while) do their homework. But it’s only around 11 PM every Tuesday and Friday, when Osamu’s already showered and swapped his day clothes out for sweats, a t-shirt, and the comfy bathrobe Ma got him for his birthday last year, that Atsumu will say _Hey, Samu, wanna hit the grocery store? I forgot I want—_ ice cream, or energy bars, or whatever the fuck the random item of the day is. Then they’ll head downstairs, arguing all the way – Osamu has a fuckin’ 8:30 class on Wednesdays, and then on Saturdays they wake up early for intramural volleyball at the university gym, couldn’t Atsumu have remembered he wants to go to the grocery store earlier?

But after a couple of weeks, Osamu realizes the reason why they’re making these late-night runs: the same clerk is in the store every single time they go. Invariably, the guy looks like he would rather be anywhere else than the grocery store at 11:30 PM on a Tuesday/Friday night. And while Osamu’s making eyes at the grocery store’s nikuman – one of the few good things to come out of their hot case – Atsumu’s making eyes at Tall, Grouchy, and Sleep-Deprived. Osamu feels bad for the guy. Like, really, how unfortunate can you get? Atsumu has no sense of timing. Leave the poor guy alone. Let him sleep.

But then the new cashier starts at the grocery store. 

It’s not like suddenly, Osamu’s completely fine with their late-night grocery runs. He’s _still_ annoyed that his dumbass twin is using these trips as a pretext to talk to the grouch reluctantly working the closing shift. But over the weeks, their late-night grocery runs become a habit. The grocery store’s hot case is always what Osamu’s eyes are drawn to first; but the bored-looking cashier, who’s always on his phone, is a close second.

Despite his newfound interest, Osamu doesn’t actually get a chance to talk to the cashier until his dumbass brother comes down with the flu. From this interaction, he learns two things: 1) the cashier’s name is Suna Rintarou, and 2) Suna has been calling him _Robe-kun_ the entire time he’s been coming in. _He could’ve looked at my student ID at literally any time, and he didn’t_ , Osamu despairs. _I’ve gotta make an impression on this guy._

So he leans over the counter and flirts with Suna a little bit – not _too_ over the top, he isn’t Atsumu – but as he walks out the door, he realizes how _embarrassed_ he is. _Ya gonna give me a name to match that pretty face of yours?_ Who the fuck _is_ he? He drops off the groceries in their room, then heads over to their floor’s shitty kitchenette to make some instant ramen, contemplating his recent life choices all the while. 

Three minutes into waiting for the water to boil, Atsumu video calls him specifically to whine. “I’m _dyin’_ , Samu, can ya hurry it up?” His voice is hoarse from coughing all day, layering atop his Kansai-ben to produce an even rougher drawl than usual. He’s sprawled dramatically over the bed on his side of the room, the picture of lethargy – until a thought pops into his lizard brain, anyway. “Hey, didja see Omi-kun? Didja tell him I said hi?” _Omi-kun_ must be Tall, Grouchy, and Sleep-Deprived. Osamu is ninety-seven percent sure “Omi-kun” is not his actual name. 

“Shut yer trap, Tsumu.” Osamu dumps the noodles and flavoring packet into the pot. “I’m trying to have a crisis in peace.” 

“A crisis? Huh?”

Shit, he’s said too much. Osamu clams up, but Atsumu’s gaze sharpens anyway. He may be an idiot, but he’s perceptive, and he knows Osamu better than anyone else on this planet. So it’s unfortunate, but unsurprising, when his eyes light up in understanding. “Ohhh,” he singsongs, a smirk spreading across his face. “Didja finally talk to Cashier-kun?”

“Shut _up_ ,” Osamu pleads, darting a glance over his shoulder like someone’s gonna come into the kitchenette and overhear this conversation at 12:15 in the morning.

“Nah, this is too good,” Atsumu crows, his impending death seemingly forgotten. “Ya _did,_ huh? Ya talked to him and ya probably made a fool outta yourself.”

“I did _not_ ,” Osamu says defensively. “I got his name.”

“Yeah, and then ya probably used some stupid line on him, huh?” Atsumu jabs. At the look on Osamu’s face, he laughs so hard he starts coughing. Once the coughing fit subsides, he points out, “Ya can’t hide a _thing_ from me, Samu, I’ve known ya your whole life.”

“That kinda comes with being a twin, asshole, I’ve known ya your whole life too,” Osamu shoots back, cracking an egg one-handed over the nearly-done noodles.

“Nuh-uh. The fifteen minutes between my birth and yours were the best fifteen minutes of my life.” Atsumu chortles to himself for a minute, then yanks the conversation back on track (much to Osamu’s chagrin). “So, what’d ya say to him?”

Reluctantly, Osamu recounts the conversation as he waits for the egg to cook. Atsumu laughs so hard he sends himself into another coughing fit, this one worse than the last. Osamu only feels a _little_ bit bad.

“Shut up before ya hurt yourself, idiot,” he huffs, turning the heat off. “I’m comin’ back to the room now, open the door when I get there.”

🛒

So Suna is cute. So maybe Osamu has a crush on him. It’s fine. He can handle this. Here’s the plan: he’ll just keep going to the grocery store until he gets the chance to talk to him again. He thinks it’s a decent plan for all of five minutes, and then he realizes: _hold on, this is the exact same plan Atsumu’s been trying on Tall, Grouchy, and Sleep-Deprived for the last month, maybe more. Fuck._

But for lack of a better plan, he and Atsumu keep up their late-night grocery runs, two unfortunate idiots with crushes. Late spring turns into early summer, and eventually, it becomes too hot for Osamu to wear his beloved robe anywhere.

One evening, the air-conditioning in the dorm blows out, leaving the entire building at roughly the temperature of a fucking onsen. Seriously, they raised the housing prices for _this_? Even Atsumu can’t bring himself to dress as nicely as he usually does; they head downstairs in tank tops and basketball shorts, as Atsumu blabbers the whole way about how he hopes to God Omi-kun is miraculously gone today.

The grocery store’s a couple of degrees cooler – probably thanks to the freezers – but when they come in, Suna still looks like he’s dying. He’s got his head down on the counter, pillowed on his arms; his black uniform polo shirt is stuck to his back with sweat, revealing some very nicely defined back muscles. Osamu allows himself a few seconds to gaze respectfully before he opens his mouth.

“Sleepin’ on the job, Sunarin?” he asks lightly. “What if I made off with your entire stash of Ben & Jerry’s while ya were out?”

Suna raises his head and just _stares_ for a minute, before he yanks his gaze away from Osamu’s arms and up to his eyes. (Osamu fights not to blush. If he’s turning red, it’s just because it’s hot in here, okay.) “Honestly, they don’t pay me enough to care,” he shrugs. 

Atsumu hustles him into the aisles, where he hisses, “He’s totally into ya. What the fuck. I saw him have an entire gay meltdown lookin’ at your arms. _I_ was into one of the grocery store guys first, why are ya _winning?!_ ”

“Look, your boy is over there. Go talk to him and leave me alone,” Osamu hisses back. Tall, Grouchy, and Sleep-Deprived is in fact over by the freezers, looking at them like he wants nothing so much as to stand in one of them for a minute, or maybe an hour. Instead of talking to him like a normal person, Atsumu drags Osamu over to the freezers to pick out a carton of ice cream. They argue over which flavor to buy before Osamu rolls his eyes and suggests a game of jankenpon to decide. 

Atsumu wins and picks Karamel Sutra, specifically to watch Osamu squirm as he hands it over the counter to Suna. (From where he’s standing, Atsumu’s boy smirks just a little bit watching the exchange. Osamu resolves never to tell his brother. He’d be _insufferable_.)

“Management’s taking me and Sakusa off the closing shift starting next week,” Suna says casually, as he’s scanning their Ben & Jerry’s carton of the day. His eyes flicker down to the ice cream flavor, then back up to Osamu’s with a smirk. “They hired some new suckers, so we get to work more rational hours now.”

Simultaneously, Osamu works on ignoring Atsumu’s crestfallen face next to him and tries not to freak out at Suna’s very handsome smirk. “Aw,” he grins, “what am I gonna do without ya to light up my late-night grocery runs, Sunarin?”

Suna leans over the counter, groceries and Atsumu forgotten. “Well,” he drawls, “you could ask for my number, and go for grocery runs at a more reasonable hour.”

“You’re really gonna do this _in front of my salad_?” Atsumu demands, brandishing a plastic package of Cobb salad that Suna hasn’t scanned yet. He is soundly ignored by both Suna and Osamu.

In the end, it’s Tall, Grouchy, and Sleep-Deprived who saves Atsumu from this display. “Suna, stop flirting with the customers, we need to close up.”

🛒

 **Me** 12:19 AM  
Hey  
I hope closing up went well  
So what’s this more reasonable hour ya were talkin about  
To go for grocery runs I mean

 **Sunarin** 12:19 AM  
cant talk now im about to fall asleep  
take me out for a coffee tomorrow at the library cafe and ill tell u 😌

🛒

Osamu and Atsumu change their grocery runs to 3:30 PM on Mondays and Thursdays. Suna doesn’t look like he’s five seconds away from falling asleep anymore. Even _Sakusa_ is less grouchy. The way Osamu sees it, everyone – even his idiot twin – is winning.

**Author's Note:**

> hoping to write more snos in 2021, so consider this my warmup hehe. i hope they felt in character!
> 
> if you liked this you can tell your friends about it by rting the promo tweet [here](https://twitter.com/tadhanastar/status/1343463772409630720?s=20)! i'm [@tadhanastar](https://twitter.com/tadhanastar) on twitter - come yell about volleyboys with me in the new year!


End file.
